Pirates Trade For Two More Relievers, Mitch Keller to 60-Day IL
The Pirates wrapped up the MLB Trade Deadline by adding two more relievers, ahead of announcing Mitch Keller out for the season.
Following the trade that landed relief pitcher Luke Weaver, the Pittsburgh Pirates remained active in the relief pitching market.
At the deadline, the Pirates traded for relievers Kirby Yates from the Los Angeles Angels and Lake Bachar from the Miami Marlins. Paired with Weaver, that gives the Pirates a trio of new relievers for their struggling bullpen.
The bullpen moves come at the same time that the Pirates announced Mitch Keller will be placed on the 60-day IL with a right arm teres major muscle injury in his shoulder. That will end the season for the starting pitcher.
The Pirates also announced a minor move, trading Hunter Stratton to the Padres.
Details and thoughts on all four moves are below, including the prospects the Pirates parted with in each trade.
Pirates Add a Veteran Reliever in Kirby Yates
The Pirates sent right-handed pitching prospect Kyle Robinson to the Angels to receive Kirby Yates.
The 39-year-old Yates was pitching well for the Angels. In 27.1 innings this season he has a 3.95 ERA, a 3.17 FIP, and an 11.85 K/9. These numbers are in line with his career results, and a bounce-back from a 2025 season where Yates struggled with the Dodgers.
One thing that stands out to me immediately about Yates is his ability to get chases. Out of 455 pitchers with 20+ innings this season, Yates has the 24th highest chase rate at 36.3%. He only allows contact on 58.1% of those swings, which drives his ability to post such large strikeout numbers.
The Pirates added Robinson earlier this season in a trade for Alika Williams. Robinson showed interesting velocity and swing and miss ability in the lower levels, and was recently pitching for Altoona. However, he was getting hit for home runs in his brief time in Double-A, and his upside projected as a middle relief option in the big leagues.
In a roundabout way, the Pirates traded Williams for Yates.
No word yet on whether they received any salary relief. If they didn’t, Yates is owed about $1.5 million of his one-year, $5 million deal over the remainder of the season.
Pirates Get a Long-Term Reliever in Lake Bachar
The second trade at the deadline brought Lake Bachar from the Miami Marlins in exchange for middle infielder Hyun Seung Lee, outfielder Brian Sanchez, and right-handed pitcher Brandan Bidois.
Bachar will have four years of control remaining beyond the 2026 season, so this addition is more than just a rental. The 31-year-old has a 3.84 ERA in 58.2 innings this season and a 4.29 FIP. That’s in line with what he did last year in his first full season.
The right-hander sits 94.7 MPH with his fastball, and throws four pitches with a whiff rate above 30%. His slider (39.8% whiff) is the most thrown secondary pitch, followed closely by a sweeper (36.9%), a curveball (44.4%), and a split-finger (37%). He ranks 86th percentile in the big leagues in whiff rate, and his breaking run value is 95th percentile.
The Pirates sent three prospects back in the deal.
Hyun Seung Lee was the top prospect by my rankings. I wrote about him recently in the FCL Pirates recap, noting that he was a top 30 prospect who showed power from the middle infield this year at the rookie level.
Brian Sanchez was added last year at the deadline as one of three players returned for David Bednar. Sanchez was an outfielder in Greensboro hitting .254/.340/.431 with nine home runs. He was one of the biggest examples of players whose numbers were elevated by the home park. Outside of Greensboro, he hit .200/.285/.283 with one homer, versus .325/.411/.642 with eight homers in the hitter-friendly park.
Brandan Bidois was currently on the Triple-A injured list, and spent some time pitching in the Majors this year as a depth option. The recent reliever trades, and his injury status, made it unlikely he would be needed the rest of the season. With this move, the Pirates upgraded from Bidois and other depth relievers to Bachar, at the cost of Lee and Sanchez.
Lee is the driver of the value here, but the Pirates shouldn’t be concerned with rookie-ball prospect projections when they have an immediate need in the Major League bullpen.
Mitch Keller Out For the Season
The Pirates announced that Mitch Keller would be placed on the 60-day injured list with a right arm teres major muscle injury in his shoulder. This will end the season for Keller.
It was a smart move by the Pirates to wait until after the deadline to place Keller on the injured list, as it preserved their negotiating strength when adding relief help.
With Keller out, the Pirates will most likely turn to Carmen Mlodzinski as a starter for the remainder of the season. Mlodzinski was previously one of the best relievers the Pirates had, and moving him back to the rotation increases the need for relief help. It’s a good thing they added so many new relievers ahead of the deadline.
In a way, this could be seen as an upgrade. Mlodzinski was pitching better than Keller in the rotation. Keller’s injury could have led to his struggles this season, but that doesn’t change that Mlodzinski has been reliable in any role.
With the Pirates adding Weaver, Yates, Bachar, and Camilo Doval ahead of the deadline, they can afford to move Mlodzinski back to the rotation.
The Pirates didn’t give up much in these trades, while seriously addressing a season-long need that grew bigger with Mlodzinski likely moving to the rotation.
Pirates Trade Hunter Stratton
In the final move of the day, the Pirates traded right-handed pitcher Hunter Stratton to the San Diego Padres in exchange for right-handed pitching prospect Andrew Moore.
Stratton was recently designated for assignment to make room for Doval. This move is about getting value from him before he would have to be subjected to waivers.
Moore is a 26-year-old relief pitching prospect who has been assigned to Indianapolis. He sits mid-90s with his fastball and has an above-average curveball. He gets a lot of strikeouts, but has some serious control issues with over a walk per inning in Triple-A.
He’s a project with a good arm who could become a depth option if he can fix the control issues. That’s about the best the Pirates could hope for from Stratton, considering he was designated for assignment a day before the deadline.
I’ll have more thoughts on the entire deadline results later tonight…
-Tim Williams